Japan’s industry shrank in February for the first time in more than two and a half years. This is shown by the Markit / Nikkei PMI published today for the world’s third largest economy.
The barometer dropped to 48.5, below the 50 mark mark. Values above signal an expanding business activity. In January, the index was still at 50.3 points.
Japan has recently been hit by the weakness of its main trading partner, China. Due to the collapse of the Chinese business, exports fell by 8.4 percent in January compared to the same month last year, the highest level in over two years, as data released by the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo showed yesterday. Exports to the People’s Republic dropped by 17.4 percent.
